bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jonathan White

NBA Summer League star LiAngelo Ball has said that the fallout from shoplifting on a preseason tour in China was the making of him and he is “not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life”.
In 2017 ahead of the UCLA season Ball was part of a preseason tour to China where the Bruins team was playing Georgia Tech in annual Pac-12 overseas matches.
While the team were in Hangzhou, Ball and teammates Cody Riley and Jaden Hill were arrested after being accused of shoplifting sunglasses from a designer store.
This became an international incident with then-US president Donald Trump interjecting on behalf of the players as reports emerged that they could face jail in China. Ball was suspended indefinitely by UCLA before leaving. He has since played in Lithuania with BC Prienu Vytautas.

LIANGELO BALL 4-POINT PLAY pic.twitter.com/PGnVmE3u4r
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 9, 2021

In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic, Ball was asked how leaving UCLA after the incident shaped him.
“It made me who I am today. I done dealt with so much. I done heard everything – good and bad. Nothing really bothers me,” he said.
UCLA basketball players fly back to US after shoplifting scandal in China
“My skin is thick. When I play today, I just keep that same energy. For sure, people cast judgment. I was young, I don’t look back on that. I just learned from it and kept pushing. I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life.
The 22-year-old is the only one of the Ball brothers not in the NBA with younger brother LaMelo being named Rookie of the Year last season with the Charlotte Hornets and older brother Lonzo playing with the Chicago Bulls.
Ball played for the Hornets in the NBA Summer League.

16 PTS, 5 3PM

LiAngelo Ball got it done from deep in his @hornets #NBASummer debut! pic.twitter.com/s5QXHvnfuT
— NBA (@NBA) August 9, 2021



Who is Dennis Schröder? The Golden State Warriors star slammed the NBA for the Luka Doncic trade to the Los Angeles Lakers – then he was traded to the Detroit Pistons just hours after the Utah Jazz

NBA prospect David Muoka cannot play for Hong Kong until he gives up UK passport

Who is NBA player Luka Doncic’s fiancée, Anamaria Goltes – and what has she said about his move to the LA Lakers? The Slovenian model is the Dallas Mavericks star’s childhood sweetheart and baby mama

NBA star Jimmy Butler ends acrimonious time at Miami Heat, joining Golden State: reports

NBA (National Basketball Association)

NBA Summer League star LiAngelo Ball says China shoplifting fallout ‘made me’

LiAngelo Ball (right) and fellow UCLA basketball players caught shoplifting while on a team trip to China return from Shanghai at Los Angeles International Airport in November, 2017. Photo: TNS

CBA: Jeremy Lin exits hospital after Covid-19, unclear if he can play in China this season

Jeremy Lin in action for the Beijing Ducks against the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the 2019-2020 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) play-offs. Photo: Xinhua

Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai’s basketball scholarship offers Chinese students opportunity in the US

Joe Tsai (left) sits courtside with Yao Ming (second left) for the Pac-12 China Game in 2018. Photos: Alisports

FILE - This is a July 26, 2019, file photo showing Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey during an NBA basketball news conference in Houston. The Philadelphia 76ers officially named Daryl Morey president of basketball operations and extended the contract of general manager Elton Brand on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. Morey stepped down as GM of the Houston Rockets earlier this month after blockbuster moves that failed to lead the franchise to the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

U.S. National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver speaks at a press conference at Saitama Super Arena, Japan, on Oct. 8, 2019, after China sharply reacted to Houston Rockets' General Manager Daryl Morey's pro-Hong Kong tweet. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images) [08NOVEMBER2020 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE] CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2013, file photo, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, top row center right, former NBA Houston Rockets basketball player Yao Ming, top row center left, and NBA Commissioner David Stern, bottom left pose with children during the NBA Cares Special Olympics Basketball Clinic ahead of a 2013-2014 NBA preseason game against the Golden State Warriors in Shanghai, China. Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tried Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 to defuse the rapidly growing fallout over his deleted tweet that showed support for Hong Kong anti-government protesters, saying he did not intend to offend any of the team's Chinese fans or sponsors. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, FIle)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 19, 2021 Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets grabs the loose ball as Jrue Holiday #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks defends in the first half during game seven of the Eastern Conference second round at Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. - Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant will compete for a third Olympic title in Tokyo alongside a new group of NBA stars seeking gold, according to an ESPN report June 23, 2021. (Photo by ELSA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Hustle’s NBA in China plot changed by Netflix, says Adam Sandler

Actor Adam Sandler attends an NBA basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks in 2013. Photo: AP

Chinese basketball star Zhou Qi refuses to play CBA season over contract dispute

China‘s Qi Zhou battles with Canada‘s Dwight Powell during the first half of a FIBA men’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games basketball qualifying game in June. Photo: AP

Houston Rockets' Zhou Qi approaches the bench after playing against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game, Monday, July 10, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Pac-12 steals a march with China Game but big boys like NFL, Premier League and NBA are sniffing around

Yao Ming (second left) and Joe Tsai (left) sit courtside for the Pac-12 China Game. Photos: Alisports

Action from the Pac-12 China Game

Joe Tsai at the Pac-12 China Game press conference

Sport

Basketball

China


‘I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life,’ says only Ball brother not in NBA after starring in Summer League
The 22-year-old was one of three UCLA players arrested in Hangzhou on preseason tour in 2017



‘I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life,’ says only Ball brother not in NBA of incident on UCLA preseason tour in 2017.


NBA Summer League star LiAngelo Ball says China shoplifting fallout ‘made me’

‘I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life,’ says only Ball brother not in NBA after starring in Summer League The 22-year-old was one of three UCLA players arrested in Hangzhou on preseason tour in 2017

‘I’m not gonna let one decision mess up my whole life,’ says only Ball brother not in NBA after starring in Summer League

The 22-year-old was one of three UCLA players arrested in Hangzhou on preseason tour in 2017